BTCATL 58

Chapter 58

“Ugh…”

Kalios drew in a sharp breath, waking from a past he didn’t particularly want to remember.

As he pushed himself up, he quickly realized it had been a dream, pressing his throbbing head with one hand.

Sunlight leaked through the dark curtains covering the window.

Was it morning?

The sleep hadn’t been refreshing at all—it left only a sticky discomfort.

Cold sweat rolled down his forehead.

He threw off his thin, sweat-soaked shirt and gulped down the water that had been left on the table.

Ever since stepping into the royal palace, the constant irritation had finally manifested into a nightmare.

It was all the fault of that damn younger brother being involved with some strange nonsense. Otherwise, there would’ve been no reason for him to even come to the palace.

At fifteen, after he had gone berserk, he had been taken in by the former West Tower Master.

Five years later, life in the Spirit Tower had completely changed him.

A soft, pliable mask now covered his rigid, dry, calculating face.

He mastered power and rose to a position befitting it.

By the unprecedented age of twenty, he had ascended to the Tower Master’s seat. Upon returning to Cantana, he found that much had changed.

He didn’t know how his younger self had survived, but one soldier who had fled during Kalios’ berserk episode reported that the Red-Eyed Prince had slaughtered everyone. Soon, that red-eyed figure became a figure of fear.

The prince who annihilated both enemies and allies alike.

Rumors based on the truth had inflated as they passed from person to person, and before long, within Cantana, Kalios had become regarded as an indiscriminate killer.

Along with this, the emperor of Cantana had changed.

Kalios had gone just to check if Letrachan was safe, but he was shocked to find his younger brother confidently seated on the emperor’s throne.

The bright, innocent face of his childhood was gone.

“—Leave.”

Their reunion after seven years was cold.

Letrachan shoved Kalios away, and when Kalios saw his brother draw a sword before him, his teeth ground together.

Anger came before sadness.

He couldn’t understand why his brother acted this way.

Since then, they had only met a few times in official matters. There had been no private encounters beyond that.

Kalios, having separated the present Letrachan from the child who had once smiled innocently, simply nodded to himself.

The little boy he had loved and cherished no longer existed.

And yet…

“—The Emperor of Cantana has collapsed.”

When he heard that his brother had fallen ill with a mysterious plague, he could not bear it and called Asila.

Despite a shortage of manpower due to the epidemic, he dispatched water spirit mages five separate times, defying all opposition.

He sent only those skilled in healing.

Yet, the reports brought back no progress.

Other variants of the epidemic affecting Letrachan were curable—but only his brother’s illness did not improve.

Ultimately, the only hope he could place was in the woman he loved—Asila.

“—She can partially reverse the target’s time.”

Soon after arriving at the West Tower, Asila had explained her unique ability.

It wasn’t healing; it turned back time to before the wound existed.

Though it consumed a significant amount of mana, she had only ever used it once, to save the critically ill Crown Prince Letain, she had said, smiling awkwardly.

There was no one else to turn to.

He had lightly suggested they go visit, but beneath the casual tone were tangled feelings of love, hate, and worry.

When he saw his brother, the sight was horrifying. His body radiated black smoke like a monster, his skin had darkened unnaturally—it wasn’t a simple illness. It was nearly impossible for a disease of natural origin to taint a human in such a manner.

“Ugh…”

As Asila reached out her hand to heal him, the dark mana surrounding Letrachan’s body reacted violently, burning her hand.

Startled, Kalios tried to move forward, but Asila refused him.

What happened next could only be described as miraculous.

Mana surged explosively from Asila. Waves of it flowed from her body to the spirits, clearly visible.

Kalios, unable to even imagine the amount of mana she was using, could only watch her and Letrachan.

Butterflies landed densely over Letrachan’s body.

Asila and the butterflies glowed a vivid red, connected through mana.

The mana flowing was visible even to the naked eye.

Kalios realized the immense cost of reversing time, biting his lips in helplessness.

Mana flowed endlessly from Asila, carrying her characteristic sweet and captivating scent.

An amount of mana that a single spirit mage—or even three—might normally have was poured into the spirits.

It was terrifying to think she might be spending her own life force to supply that mana.

After some time, the countless butterflies covering Letrachan took flight.

His body, buried in the bed, floated in the crimson light.

And then…

Kalios felt as though time was separate only around Asila, the spirits, and Letrachan.

Though it was just a feeling, the scene before his eyes was awe-inspiring.

The black, unpleasant mana that had enveloped Letrachan began to vanish.

Time for Letrachan was moving backward.

The darkened skin began returning to its original color, and his pale face regained life, as if he had just woken up.

Minor wounds disappeared instantly.

Asila’s black hair floated gently in the air as her hand rested atop Letrachan.

Her eyes, fixed on the empty air, glowed gold.

Kalios, who did not believe in gods, felt a divinity in her.

Perhaps this was what the saint who once saved the continent had looked like.

Kalios stared in awe at Asila, surrounded by the crimson waves of mana.

In over ten years of seeing spirits and Spirit Tower affairs across the continent, he had never seen anything like this.

Even with the same dark spirits contracted, this scene was undeniably real.

It was overwhelming.

Words failed him.

A breathtakingly beautiful woman, bathed in light, reversing time.

A solemnity filled his heart as if he were witnessing a deity.

Thud.

The sound of something falling snapped Kalios out of his daze.

The butterflies gradually disappeared, and the turbulent mana faded.

Letrachan and Asila floated back down to the floor.

Kalios stepped forward.

The last butterfly vanished.

“—Asila!!”

He ran forward as her body collapsed, catching her in his arms, feeling his heart plummet.

Supporting her upper body with his legs, he pressed his ear to her pale chest, trembling.

Thump, thump.

He heard a heartbeat—his or hers, he couldn’t tell.

After a long moment, he exhaled, realizing she had merely lost consciousness.

Knock, knock.

The knock on the door pulled him out of the astonishing scene he had just witnessed.

“…Brother.”

It was Letrachan.

Regained consciousness, he entered the room slowly. There was no trace of illness on his tall frame.

He had grown so much—it was almost funny.

Kalios leaned against the window, watching that damn brother.

Seeing his brother alive and healthy stirred an unexpected irritation in him.

It was funny—he had requested help, and yet Asila, in the next room, hadn’t yet regained consciousness.

“Have you finally decided to call me ‘brother’?”

Relief that he had survived, irritation at Asila’s state, and a mix of relief and bitterness at his brother’s acknowledgment swirled in his chest.

He couldn’t sort out his emotions, so he resorted to his usual sarcasm. Letrachan blinked, seemingly shocked.

But what happened next left even Kalios speechless.

“I thought you had abandoned me.”

The once defiant Letrachan knelt, his violet eyes brimming with tears.

“…What?”

“No one was in the palace. It felt completely empty. I had heard the Red-Eyed Prince had wiped everything out and waited. But you went to the Tower. I… strangely, I gained an aura and couldn’t stand seeing the Crown Prince insult you, so I killed everyone. I became emperor, but I thought I’d die without you…”

His words tumbled out incoherently.

Kalios could only stare. He had abandoned him?

“…Letrachan.”

Gripping the kneeling man by the collar, he pulled him up with force.

Letrachan, brought up weakly, met his gaze. His violet eyes reflected the light, looking pitifully ridiculous.

“You thought I abandoned you?”

So that’s why he had acted so stubbornly—because an aura had suddenly appeared?

The Third Consort had clearly not explained properly.

“Don’t be ridiculous. I gave you all my aura to protect you! Didn’t your mother explain? I didn’t want you to get hurt, so I gave it all to you and went to the battlefield. What? You think I abandoned you?!”

Letrachan’s violet eyes widened in ignorance.

Kalios, burning with anger, then relaxed his grip.

Foolish brothers.

He and Letrachan had truly been stubborn and foolish.